Are There Any Toxic Big Five Traits?

There really is no such thing as a toxic Big Five personality trait. Everyone possesses some degree of Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism, and all of these traits are natural components of human personality.

That said, it’s important to understand that each Big Five trait is a “bucket” that holds a number of sub-traits. Some of these sub-traits are universally positive, while others may not serve you well all of the time. They can even become problematic if you don’t learn how to manage them to minimize their potentially harmful effects. 

Let’s take a closer look at some of these sub-traits, broken down by category, and at some of the ways they can be controlled or overcome.

Openness: From Curiosity to Rebellion and Risk-taking

A high degree of Openness is associated with creativity, imagination, curiosity and receptiveness to new approaches and fresh experiences. If you rate highly for Openness, you will constantly seek opportunities to expand your horizons and grow as a person. Others may know you as a fountain of original ideas.

The drawback is that highly Open people can spend too much time contemplating alternative pathways and trying to reinvent the wheel. They tend to overthink things and sometimes lack the decisiveness necessary to convert their brainstorms into real-world results. It’s not unusual for a highly Open person to jump from project to project, leaving everything only partially complete, especially if they don’t have high enough levels of Conscientiousness to keep themselves on task.

Elevated Openness also correlates with risky choices. Adventurousness sounds great, until the constant novelty-seeking and risk-taking manifests as impulsivity and poor judgment. Openness to change sounds great, until it becomes unchecked rebelliousness or a tendency to reject all rules and traditions. If you are open to everything, is there anything left that you’re not willing to try or question?

Tips for managing the downsides of high Openness:

• Work with detail-oriented people to help turn creative ideas into tangible action, and emulate the routines of efficient colleagues to strengthen your ability to follow-through.
• Commit to just one new project at a time; only start another after completing the first.
• Set boundaries for new experiences. Decide in advance which risks are worth taking and don’t cross those lines. 
• Pause before acting on every new impulse, for example, by delaying decisions overnight to avoid knee-jerk choices.
• Challenge authority thoughtfully, not reflexively. Ask whether breaking the rule will genuinely improve the outcome or just create chaos.
• Regularly revisit your goals to make sure you're anchoring your efforts on the right plans and goals, instead of letting curiosity overrun your priorities.

Conscientiousness: From Discipline to Perfectionism and Control

Possessing high levels of Conscientiousness means you display extraordinary discipline, commitment and organizational skill. You’re good at setting goals and planning steps to achieve them, and these skills have probably served you well. Conscientiousness is often called the alpha trait because it’s so closely linked with career and life success.

But sometimes your sense of duty and responsibility can get you into trouble. People with high levels of Conscientiousness often fall victim to perfectionism, where nothing is ever good enough, and no one ever lives up to their own high standards, including themselves. 

Thinking this way can easily turn a person into a workaholic who neglects their health and their personal life. Other toxic behaviors might follow close behind. Highly Conscientious people can become rigid, controlling, obsessive, unreasonable and nit-picky if they hold too tightly to control or don’t learn to accept that mistakes and imperfections are a normal part of life.

Tips for managing the downsides of high Conscientiousness:

• Set strict time limits on tasks to avoid overwork and perfectionist spiraling.
• Invite trusted friends or colleagues to review your work. Outside perspectives can be helpful to prevent obsessive nit-picking.
• Revisit your expectations and goals regularly to check for unrealistic standards and overcommitment.
• Challenge yourself to switch up your routines or habits to build flexibility.
• Schedule breaks and downtime as seriously as you schedule work, to protect your health and relationships.
• Practice delegating to others, even when you feel you could do it best—it builds trust and reduces controlling tendencies.

Extraversion: From Charisma to Insensitivity and Attention-seeking

If you have a high degree of Extraversion, it means you’re outgoing and sociable, and also highly engaged with the environment around you. You initiate conversations and take a leading role in sustaining them, and people often gravitate toward you because you’re easy to talk to and charming.

Being the center of attention is rewarding for you, but the high it delivers can lead to more attention-seeking behavior which causes problems if taken to excess. For one, it can cause tension in your relationships, as you might become so preoccupied with being noticed that you begin to overlook your companions’ needs to be noticed and acknowledged as well. Your high energy can show up as insensitivity and a lack of awareness about others’ comfort levels.

Another problem is that you can become addicted to spotlight-seeking, so when you aren’t the center of attention you may feel bored or unhappy—a sign that you’ve become dependent on others for your happiness.

Tips for managing the downsides of high Extraversion:

• As scary as it may sound, make space for regular time alone. This helps develop your self-sufficiency and reduces your dependence on the attention of others to fuel your self-worth.
• Ask trusted friends or loved ones to signal when you’re dominating conversations or seeking too much attention.
• Focus on making others the center of discussion; practice asking deeper questions and truly listening, rather than steering conversations back to yourself.
• Prioritize relationship quality over quantity. You don’t have to let go of your many friend groups, but you will benefit from building deeper, more meaningful connections rather than spreading yourself too thin.
• Reflect regularly on whether your energy matches the needs of the people around you. Not everyone wants or thrives on constant engagement, and the give-and-take of relationships means you benefit from being mindful about when to lean in and when to step back.

Agreeableness: From Kindness to People-pleasing and Passive-aggression 

People who are high in Agreeableness are caring, thoughtful and considerate. You prefer cooperation and social harmony over competition and conflict. Your intentions are  honorable, and you assume others’ intentions are the same.

Sadly, your Agreeable nature can leave you vulnerable to exploitation. This can happen when you are too quick to trust and too willing to put your own needs aside in order to keep everyone happy. There will always be people who take advantage of this and use your kind nature as a weapon against you. 

Your desire to avoid conflict could also be harmful if it results in you failing to stand up for yourself or letting important issues go unresolved. Chronic self-sacrifice and conflict avoidance may cause you to lose touch with your own values and needs, which does no one any favors, especially when your frustrations show up as passive aggression. 

Tips for managing the downsides of high Agreeableness:

• Build assertiveness skills. Practice expressing your needs firmly but respectfully, even if it feels awkward at first.
• Set clear boundaries by defining what behaviors and demands you will (and won’t) accept at work, home and in relationships.
• Practice saying “no” in low-stakes situations so you’re comfortable declining when it truly matters.
• Advocate for your own ideas and contributions. Learn to promote your work and achievements so you aren’t overlooked or undervalued.
• Stay alert to the possibility that other people may not be as honorable as you. If you suspect that someone is taking advantage, call them out or remove yourself from the situation.
• If your gullibility gets you into trouble, use it as a learning experience. What can you change to make sure you don’t fall into the same trap again?

Neuroticism: From Sensitivity to Negativity and Overreaction

Neuroticism is different from the other Big Five traits in the sense that it measures what could be seen as negative emotions, namely a person’s tendency to experience emotions like anxiety, sadness, self-consciousness, guilt, or anger in emotionally challenging situations. When you have a high level of Neuroticism, learning to manage these feelings can be tricky, and you might feel that your negative emotions take on a life of their own. For example, frequent stress can lead to chronic anxiety and catastrophizing that eventually becomes detached from any specific worry. You start overreacting to everything, and anxiety is present most of the time.

You might assume, then, that it’s better to have lower levels of Neuroticism. Low-N people tend to be calm, resilient and better able to cope with stress. But extreme emotional steadiness isn’t always beneficial. Low Neuroticism can sometimes result in complacency, where problems that need attention are overlooked and people don’t get the empathy they deserve because the low-N person struggles to relate emotionally to others’ distress and may underestimate the significance of social cues.

Tips for managing the downsides of high Neuroticism:

• Practice relaxation techniques like meditation, yoga or deep breathing  to calm stress responses.
• Limit overexposure to anxiety triggers (such as doom-scrolling).
• Catch yourself when that constant wave of worry or negativity shows up for no real reason—then ask, “Is this actually about something, or is my mind just stuck on autopilot?” Sometimes just naming it helps you break the loop.

Tips for managing the downsides of very low Neuroticism:

• Pay closer attention to others’ emotional signals and validate their feelings, even if you don’t instinctively relate.
• Set regular check-ins for self-reflection: Are any problems slipping through the cracks? Are you missing warning signs in relationships or work?
• Balance optimism with realism. Pause to consider what could go wrong and plan accordingly, especially before big decisions.

Curious which sub-traits apply to you—or might be getting in your way? Take the scientifically validated Big Five personality test here.